7m 
IN THE SHETLANDS 165 
his mother, stretches his legs straight out behind 
him on the rock, and lies like this for a few seconds, 
as we sometimes see a cat or a dog do. Then he 
comes out, preens himself, and voids his excrement, 
and I cannot but record—for indeed it was very 
funny—that this hits exactly in the eye, and over 
the face generally, another guillemot standing about 
two feet from him on the edge of the ledge. The 
poor bird thus distinguished stands with a comical 
look, and for some while shakes its head very vigor- 
ously. Later, when it comes somewhat near to the 
chick, the latter’s mother utters the jode/ in a warning 
tone of voice, seeming to say, “‘ Thus far, but no 
farther.’ The chick, having preened itself a little, 
goes again to its mother, and is received this time 
beneath her other wing, which is the farther one. I 
look down upon them now a little more perpendicu- 
larly, so that he seems almost to have disappeared 
altogether. 
It is really wonderful—and the incident just given 
illustrates it—what a power all these sea-birds have 
of ejecting their excrement to a distance. Not only 1s 
it propelled with great force forwards, but also up- 
wards, so that its course is crescentic; and in this, 
perhaps, we may look back to a time when the guille- 
mot and fulmar petrel made nests, for it is by this 
arrangement that the nest of the shag is kept clean 
whilst the rock all about it is coated with excrement. 
I mention the fulmar petrel as well as the guillemot, 
because, whatever may be the case elsewhere, here 
